Friday, May 30, 2014

The NSA has corrupted the Internet. On June 5, we will Reset the Net. We hope you’ll join us.

June 5 is the one-year anniversary of the first documents leaked by Edward Snowden. While EFF has
been fighting NSA surveillance
for years, 2013 marked a new chapter in our battle against mass
spying.
The documents made it clear to everyone why we care so much, and why
they should too.

Surveillance affects everyone, in the United States and
internationally. Millions of innocent people
have had their
communications swept up by the NSA’s dragnet surveillance. Thomas Drake,
former
NSA official and whistleblower described
recently retired NSA chief General Keith Alexander’s
surveillance
philosophy: “He is absolutely obsessed and completely driven to take it
all, whenever
possible.” This philosophy clearly underpinned his nearly
nine year tenure at the NSA. In addition to
this collect-it-all
strategy, the NSA has used tactics such as deploying malware, trying to weaken encryption, and other sophisticated techniques that make the Internet less secure.

Mass surveillance is toxic for the Internet. The Internet is a
powerful force that can promote
democracy, innovation, and creativity,
but it’s being subverted as a tool for government spying.

That’s why EFF has joined with dozens of other organizations in calling for a day of action to Reset
the Net. On June 5th, Reset the Net is asking everyone to help by installing free software tools
that
are designed to protect your privacy on a computer or a mobile
device. Reset the Net is also calling
on websites and developers to add surveillance resistant features, like HTTPS and forward secrecy.